1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a shifting device for a vehicle and a shifting system using the same, and more particularly to a shifting device for a vehicle including an actuator which moves a cable connected to the shifting device operating according to a shift signal to operate a transmission of the vehicle, and a shifting system using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
A transmission in a vehicle typically varies a gear ratio in order to maintain a constant rotation of an engine according to the speed of the vehicle. This change in gear ration, particularly in standard transmissions, is often controlled by a driver that operates a shifting device such as a shift lever in order to change the gear ratio of the transmission or by the transmission in an automatic or tiptronic transmission.
Recently, an electronic shifting device such as a shift-by-wire shifting device are starting to be mounted within the vehicle to receive a signal according to the driver's operation on the shift lever and control the transmission using an electrical signal unlike a conventional shifting device in which a shift lever operating force of the driver is transmitted to the transmission through a mechanical cable.
Specifically, the conventional shifting device is configured so that a lever is rotated by operating a knob to shift the gear of the transmission through a cable connected to the lever, and a mechanical cable shifting structure is formed between the transmission and the shifting device. In the mechanical cable shifting structure, a shift feeling that the driver experiences during the shifting depends on the route of the cable and the transmission, thus it is often difficult for the driver to perceive a smooth shifting feeling. Further, the size of a gate where a gear shifting range is disposed varies according to the stroke of the transmission, and the lever occupies a large area of a center console. Accordingly, it is difficult to install various switches and convenient products such as a cup holder due to the amount of space the shifting lever takes up.
More recent shifting devices, such as the electrical devices described above, are configured so that after a change in position of the lever is sensed, an electrical signal is transmitted from an electronic control unit (ECU) to a transmission control unit (TCU), and the TCU determines other conditions of the vehicle at the same time and shifts a gear stage of the transmission by using an actuator assembled to the transmission. In this case, since the shifting is performed by using an electrical signal, the mechanical cable structure can be omitted, and it is possible to achieve a smooth shift feeling and minimize the size of the gate. However, since this system communicates over a controller area network (CAN) with the TCU of the vehicle, vehicle safety-related requirements would increase and a procedure for verifying safety then becomes quite complicated, thereby causing an increase in production costs of the vehicle.
Thus, there is a need for development of a new shifting device having advantages of both the conventional mechanical cable shifting structure and the more recent electrical shifting structure using an electrical signal while at the same time excluding their disadvantages.